Pseudonyms

Jim Dwyer's "About New York" column last week (NYT) concerned an Albany staffer being reprimanded for using a fictitious name while defending an assemblyman on the Internet. This was a case of "sock puppetry" - a new word for your lexicon. Apparently the practice is widespread throughout the blogosphere. A British historian invented a nom  de plume to review his own work. Even Benjamin Franklin used several names in Poor Richard's Almanac. A New York individual created seventy-two identities to hold on line debates- and the list goes on and on. A friend of mine once signed his letters "Osgood Hooker"  more in playfulness than deception. And I must confess having succumbed on a few occasions. You see, my surname is as common as Chang in the Hong Kong directory and on several occasions I have lost restaurant reservations to imposters. My address in Yonkers, N.Y. at the time was on David Lane and henceforth I was Mr.  David Lane on the reservation book. When my "name" was called over the P.A. system I only hoped that none of my neighbors were in the crowd. How someone could remember seventy-two identities I will never understand since I sometimes forget what PIN I am using. That individual could make a fortune in Las Vegas counting cards.
tjs
Next - TBA